


Rebirth

by TheMysteriousGeek2345



Series: Blood and Fangs [1]
Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood Magic, Character Turned Into Vampire, Everyone worries about Cyrus in this fic. Everyone., Gen, I Blame Tumblr, Light Angst, Minor Character Death, My First Work in This Fandom, Sickfic, Small spoilers for Tressa and Cyrus’ chapter twos, Team as Family, Vampire!Cyrus Albright, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-10 16:03:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17429075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMysteriousGeek2345/pseuds/TheMysteriousGeek2345
Summary: An alternate retelling of Cyrus' chapter two, where he ends up victim to Gideon's Blood Rituals.The team are very concerned for him, especially when Cyrus' condition takes a turn for the worse.





	1. The mysterious disappearance of Cyrus Albright.

**Author's Note:**

> Me: Only 18 hours into Octopath and only beaten 4 of the 8 Chapter 2s.  
> Also me: "Let's look at the Octopath Tumblr tag, shall we?"  
> Me: Sees two posts that led to this fic being born. 
> 
> And then I accidentally wrote a four shot when it was initially meant to be a one shot. Yeah....I apologise if some characters are out of character. As I said previously, I am only 18 hours into the game, so haven't finished everyone's routes yet. Also H'aanit was really difficult to write for, but I did my best? 
> 
> And yes, there are some other tags that I want to post in here, but I do kinda want to avoid spoilers for the ending so they won't be tagged for now...?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tressa notices Cyrus is missing.  
> And this is the start of Cyrus' ordeal.

It was Tressa who first noticed Cyrus' disappearance.

She, along with Olberic, Ophilia and Therion, had returned back to Quarrycrest after beating up that meanie Morlock and rescuing Ali from his clutches. Now, Tressa was taking a break by chatting to the rest of her companions and scouting out any deals that she could find.

"Hey, where's the Prof?" Tressa asked curiously, as she was walking through town with Alfyn and H'aanit, "I haven't seen him allllll day."

"Didn't he say that he were headin' to his friend Odette's house?" Alfyn replied, a second later.

"Aye." H'aanit nodded in agreement, "Perhaps it woulde be beste if we asked Odette if she has seene him.

"Alright!" Tressa said eagerly, "Let's go and ask Odette!"

And so, Alfyn asked around for directions and a little while later the three of them were stood outside of Odette's house. Tressa eagerly knocked on the door, until a middle aged woman with blonde hair opened the door. 

"...And who might you three be?" The woman, who Tressa presumed was Odette, asked curiously.

"I'm Tressa and this is Alfyn and H'aanit!" Tressa replied cheerfully, as H'aanit added, "We were wondering if thou hadst seene Cyrus."

"I sent him to investigate some mysterious disapperances..." Odette began, before her face went  _pale_. She continued, as Tressa could hear the  _fear_ in her voice, "Oh Sacred Flame,  _no_..."

"Can you tell me more about the disapperances?" Alfyn asked, as he and H'aanit tried to calm down the fear-stricken Odette. Meanwhile, as Tressa listened to Odette's explanation, she became more and more  _terrified_ for Cyrus' wellbeing. Was the Prof yet another victim? Was he still alive? What if...

No, he wasn't dead. He  _couldn't_ be.

Eventually, Alfyn was able to gather all of the information that he needed, before he turned and looked at Tressa, and said, "Tress, we need to find the others."

Tressa nodded, trying to sound optimistic even if she didn't feel it, "Oh...ok! Shall... Shall we meet in the town square?"

H'aanit nodded, "Of course."

* * *

H'aanit was the one who struck the killing blow.

The seven of them, once they had gathered in the Town Square, had asked around and investigated the town  _thoroughly_ until Olberic had spotted a boarded up entrance to the sewers. Alfyn and H'aanit had destroyed the rotting wood boarding up the entrance with their axes, relieved that the wood was so easy to destroy.

After all, time  _was_ of the essence, and they did not have a moment to waste.

It was unusual, H'aanit mused, to see everyone  _this_ focused, as they made their way through the sewers under Quarrycrest. Yes, they all had their differences. Therion and Tressa didn't always see eye to eye, and Olberic and Primrose tended to hide their emotional pain from the others.

But they were a team, and one of their own was in danger.

"I see him." Primrose said quietly, as she gently pressed a finger to her lips. H'aanit peered into the room Primrose was pointing at, as her heart  _sank._

Cyrus was lying down in the centre of the room, seemingly tied or chained to a piece of wood. He was trying to free himself, grunting and muttering something to himself as he tugged desperately against his bindings. He seemed to be in pain as he did so. H'aanit could also see another individual, face obscured by a hood, drawing something on the floor and chanting as he did so.

"What should we do?" Ophilia asked quietly, watching the scene with a look of horror on her face.

"Ophilia, heale Cyrus." H'aanit muttered calmly, as she strung an arrow into her bow, "Everyone else, cover me."

Ophilia and the others nodded, as H'aanit released the first arrow. The arrow hit its mark, and the individual collapsed on the ground, before standing up and looking at the seven intruders. Cyrus also turned and looked in their direction, and smiled weakly as he saw familiar faces.

"Urgh, it's just my luck that I'm interrupted in the middle of the ritual." The man sighed, "Very well. Let us do battle."

And so they did. Ophilia rushed towards Cyrus, casting healing magic on him as Olberic hit the man with a giant swing of his sword. Alfyn and Therion dodged out of the way as the man cast some offensive magic, before unleashing their own attacks as Tressa and Primrose responded with magic of their own. H'aanit ordered Linde to pounce at the man, as she let loose another arrow from her bow.

The battle continued like this for several minutes, before H'aanit was finally able to decapitate the man with a swing of her axe. Everyone fell silent as the man's head rolled into the magical circle he had drawn, before breathing a sigh of relief.

"Thank... Thank you..." Cyrus muttered weakly, as Therion rushed to Cyrus' side, cutting through the leather bindings with his dagger, before helping Cyrus sit up.

"Prof!" Tressa ran up to Cyrus and gently hugged him, "Are...are you alright?"

"I...am quite alright, thank you Tressa." Cyrus replied, "There were others in here with me. Please can you... Can you check to see...?"

H'aanit ignored the faintly glowing circle on the ground, as she noticed a cell at the back of the room. After removing a belt full of keys from the man's headless corpse, she unlocked the cell, and slowly checked the pulse of each individual in the cell.

Seven were dead. Three still lived.

"Alfyn, Ophilia, thou hadst more patients. Can thou heale them and bringe them backe?" H'aanit asked calmly.

"On it!" Alfyn said in a determined tone, as he walked towards where the individuals were lying, Ophelia following close behind.

"And I will escort the Professor back to town." Primrose added, supporting Cyrus as he weakly stood up. H'aanit gently draped Cyrus' left arm over her shoulders, as everyone else made their way out of the sewers.

That  _should_ have been the end of it. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .... Yup, Cyrus is going to have an interesting 12 hours or so. I half apologise and half don't apologise for this. ;)
> 
> Also if anyone has seen the Tumblr posts in question, you might know exactly where this is going so yeah I am going to have a lot of fun with this.... :D 
> 
> Should clarify that my main Traveler is Cyrus and he is my oblivious disaster son and he did nothing wrong to deserve this.


	2. Taking a turn for the worse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cyrus claims that he's perfectly fine after his whole ordeal.  
> Except... He isn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, we hit 69 views.... Noice. XD  
> Secondly, ahhhhh I wasn't expecting this many Kudos! Thank you! Here is Part 2!

Primrose could tell that Cyrus was lying.

The eight of them were sat in the local tavern, having informed Odette that Cyrus was  _safe_. They then treated Cyrus to a local meal and some of the finest wine the tavern had to offer. He deserved it after all that had been through.

"Why did you go in there on your own?!" Olberic asked, sounding frustrated at Cyrus, though that frustration was born from worry, "You could have been  _killed_."

"I...I could not leave the missing individuals alone with that fiend." Cyrus subtly winced, before he continued speaking, "If I had not gone down there where I had, then we might not have been able to save any of them."

"You should've warned us first!" Therion said, and Primrose could hear the subtle worry hidden in his hostile words. In her... Line of profession, she had gotten very good at reading people.

Which was why she knew Cyrus was lying, or at least hiding something from the group. He said that he was perfectly fine, and that he was ready to leave town to continue his search for  _From the Far Reaches of Hell_ but his body language suggested otherwise. He was occasionally rubbing his side, and his eyes seemed unfocused. 

Primrose really needed to ask Cyrus if he was alright later.

"Anyhow, I am perfectly  _fine_ now." Cyrus continued, changing the subject, "So perhaps we should start making plans on where to head to next. Did you, or did you not business to attend to in Boulderfell, Therion?"

"So, what if I do?" Therion asked back, "But yes, I have... things to attend to in Boulderfell."

"It's settled then." Olberic nodded, "Boulderfell it is."

The eight of them stayed in the tavern for a while, discussing what they had been up to that day as well as their future plans (H'aanit wanted to head to Stonesberg, which interested Cyrus as he also had business to attend to there). Eventually though, they paid for their drinks and left the establishment, and as they did so, Primrose pulled Therion to one side.

"You normally share a tent with Cyrus, don't you?" Primrose asked quietly, trying not to draw everyone's attention.

Therion nodded, "I do, yes. Why?"

"Can you keep an eye on him?" Primrose muttered, "I feel that he may be hiding the full extent of his condition from us."

"On it." Therion replied.

* * *

 

Therion woke up to the sound of screaming.

He quickly looked around the tent, trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from, before he realised that the only other person in the tent with him was the Professor.

"Must be havin' a nightmare or somethin'." Therion thought, as he slowly got up and walked to where Cyrus was in the middle what appeared to be a nightmare, screaming and thrashing about as if he was being attacked. Therion asked, "Hey, Prof. You alright?", as he gently tried to shake Cyrus awake.

Except Cyrus  _wasn't_ responding.

"Cyrus, Cyrus can you hear me?" Therion asked, his voice growing more and more frantic each time he repeated Cyrus' name. He didn't want to admit it, but he had grown to care for, and trust, that oblivious Professor. 

It had to be a nightmare, it just  _had_ to be, right?

Except Cyrus' screams were growing louder, and more frantic, and it sounded so  _wrong_ coming out of Cyrus' mouth. Therion gently touched Cyrus' skin and it was just so  _cold._ was Cyrus.... dying?

Therion ran out of the tent.

"Alfyn!?" Therion shouted, "Alfyn!?  **ALFYN!?** "

Several lanterns were lit as Primrose and Olberic stumbled out of their tents, looking at Therion as they did so. Olberic murmered, "What... What is it Therion?"

"It's Cyrus." Therion said, voice frantic and eye wild, "He's screaming and thrashing about in pain and he's not responding to my attempts to wake him up and I do not know  _what to do._ Can you get Alfyn? Maybe... Maybe..."

"I shall wake him up." Olberic said at the same time Primrose asked, "Shall I wake up Ophilia as well?"

"Yes...Yes please." Therion muttered, "I... I do not want Cyrus to  _die._ "

By this point, everyone was awake. When Therion had explained what was going on, Ophilia and Alfyn immediately went into Cyrus' tent, whilst Primrose and H'aanit tried to calm down a panicking Tressa. No one would be getting much sleep after this.

Eventually, Alfyn walked out of the tent, looking  _shaken_ , with an equally shaken Ophilia following close behind. Alfyn gulped, "I...I don't know what's wrong with the Prof."

"There has to be something we can do, right?" Tressa asked nervously.

H'aanit added, "Maybe there is somethinge of note in thate fiend's notes?"

"That's a good idea." Alfyn nodded, "I gave him some medicine, so he's in less pain now... Not screamin' as badly either. If I knew what he had, then I would be great him fully, but for now..."

"Maybe we should take him to Odette's and continue trying to treat him as everyone else investigates the sewers again?" Ophilia suggested, trying to sound hopeful.

Everyone nodded. It was the only idea that they had after all.

Therion just hoped that they weren't too late. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I headcanon Cyrus as being one of those kids who is always saying that they are well enough to attend school even if they have the flu. Which is why he's telling the group he's fine- it's just short term effects from the Blood Ritual, what could possibly go wrong?
> 
> Therion is returning back to Boulderfell to finish off his chapter 2. So he's still a little I don't trust people but he is starting to trust people which he doesn't want to admit.
> 
> And I promise that Cyrus is not going to die. Trust me, he'll be fine. Mostly. Honest! ^.^


	3. Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party now try and find answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy moly we are almost at 150 views. What madness is this!? :o
> 
> Thank you everyone! :D Here is the latest part of the four shot. :) I hope that you enjoy it! ^.^

Ophilia watched as Primrose and Olberic carried Cyrus through the streets of Quarrycrest. Why didn't he say that there was anything wrong  _sooner_? Maybe if he had...

No. She couldn't dwell on the past now. She had to focus on the present.

Ophilia continued casting healing magic on a very delirious, and obviously in pain, Cyrus as they all walked up the winding pathway towards Odette's house, whilst Alfyn continued supplying the pain lessening medication. To most people, Cyrus would appear drunk, but Ophilia was reminded of his Excellency - no, her  _father_ \- lying on his deathbed whilst Lianna could do nothing but  _pray_ for his survival...

Oh... _Cyrus_...

"We're here." Alfyn said seriously, as he promptly knocked on Odette's door. Ophilia looked around, and could see everyone's equally glum and slightly terrified expressions. Tressa, in particular, looked absolutely terrified. They all must care for Cyrus, Ophilia could tell.

Eventually, Odette opened the door, and she was about to say something when she saw Primrose and Olberic carrying a deathly pale Cyrus. She gasped, before saying quietly, "Oh Sacred Flames...  _no_..."

"Yeah, it's not lookin' good." Alfyn admitted quietly, "D'ya mind if we come in? Ophilia and I need space to treat the Prof."

"...Sure. Come in." Odette said, her voice full of worry and fear.

Primrose and Cyrus dragged Cyrus into Odette's house, before gently laying him down on the bed. Immediately, Ophilia and Alfyn rushed to his side and began examining him further. Ophilia quickly shot a glance at the others, who didn't seem like they wanted to leave Cyrus' side.

"Go." Ophilia said quietly, "Alfyn and I will take care of the Professor."

Olberic nodded, before saying reluctantly, "Of course."

* * *

 

Olberic wished that he could be more helpful.

He had, along with H'aanit, Therion, Tressa and Primrose, made their way back into the sewers and towards that... foul place they had found Cyrus in. Currently, they were pouring themselves into their fiend's research, desperately looking for answers. For Cyrus' sake. 

"I can't decipher his writing..." Tressa said quietly, as she read through a particularly heavy time, "But the script looks like Hornburgian...?"

Olberic read through the tome over Tressa's shoulders and yes, the script was indeed High Hornburgian. He would have been impressed at Tressa's knowledge, but he was more concerned with what little passages he could understand said. There was something about the risks of not completing a blood ritual, and necromancy, but Olberic just didn't  _understand_ the rest of it. 

H'aanit asked formally, "Thou dost come from Hornburg, Sir Olberic, if I am not mistakene?" 

"I am yes, but I wasn't taught how to read High Hornburgian..." Olberic said, wishing that had been taught to read it now. The only person who could probably recover these texts was... well...

"Hey, maybe Odette knows how to read this stuff?" Therion said, trying to sound optimistic.

"Hmmmmm..." Primrose nodded at Therion's suggestion, "That  _is_ a good idea. Let's take these tomes back to Odette and check up on Cyrus while we are there."

Olberic said, as calmly as he could, "That is indeed a sensible choice."

And with that, the five of them began carrying the tomes out of the sewers, with the intent of getting Odette to translate them. However, as they made their way back into Quarrycrest, they were greeted by Alfyn, who was clearly out of breath. Had he ran all the way from Odette's house just to gather them. And why?

"What is it?" Olberic asked, sounding concerned.

"The Prof's gettin' better." Alfyn smiled, the relief evident in his voice, "He's gonna make it."

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

Alfyn had never felt so useless in his life.

He, Ophilia and Odette were busy trying to work out what was  _wrong_ with the Prof. Alfyn mentally went through every single physical condition he could think of, trying to work out what ailment Cyrus had. But each time he came up with a potential explanation, he quickly ruled it out. Cyrus' symptoms were unlike anything he'd seen before.

"It has to be somethin' caused by that blood ritual." Alfyn muttered, watching Cyrus withering about in pain, his breathing frantic, his skin  _cold_. That was the only explanation that made sense. The only problem was Alfyn didn't know what the blood ritual had _caused._

"Hmm...Perhaps." Odette said quietly, "Maybe you interrupting the ritual has caused the strange symptoms Cyrus has been experiencing."

"But he'll live, right?" Ophilia asked, with concern in her voice.

Odette replied honestly, "I do not know. I honestly do not know."

It was at this point that Cyrus' movements began to lessen. Alfyn panicked for a second, thinking that the Prof had  _died_ , until he realised that Cyrus was now breathing normally. Yes, his skin was still _cold_ to the touch, but Cyrus seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Alfyn breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't know that he was holding. 

It was going to be ok.

Cyrus was going to be ok.

Alfyn monitored Cyrus for a little longer, trying to decide if Cyrus getting better was a short term thing or not, before he turned to Ophilia and Odette and said, "Can ya monitor Cyrus for a little longer? I'll go find the others."

Ophilia and Odette nodded, as Alfyn ran out of the house in order to to find the rest of the group and let them know that Cyrus was going to be ok.

He was going to live.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will clarify that Olberic and Alfyn's sections take place roughly at the same time. Initially was going to wait until the next chapter to post Alfyn's section but it fitted better in this chapter.
> 
> And the final part is Cyrus' section! He should be fine... Except this is not a standard Sickfic and well his skin is still cold for a reason... ;) And that means that I can soon post the tags I didn't want to tag initially to avoid spoilers...


	4. Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cyrus wakes up.  
> He immediately pieces together what was wrong with him...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for the final part! Just was so excited to get this part out, so posted it earlier than planned! Thank you all for enjoying this! :D

Cyrus slowly felt himself coming too.

By the Flame how long had he been out, he wondered, as he weakly tried to open his eyes, only to immediately shut them as the room was far too bright. He weakly muttered, "Where... Where am I?", as he tried to sit up a little, though his body, like his throat, was still very sore. 

What happened to him?

"Relax, Prof." Cyrus could hear Alfyn's voice ringing loudly in his ears, overwhelming him a little. Alfyn continued, "You're in Odette's house. Are you ok?"

"It's... Awfully bright." Cyrus admitted, "Is there a way of making the room less bright?" A few seconds later, he heard loud clattering as someone (Therion? The footprints sounded familiar) moved towards the windows and closed the shutters. Cyrus risked opening his eyes again, only this time the amount of light was more tolerable.

He could see everyone watching him attentively, with a look of caution on their faces. Perhaps they were worried that this was but a temporary affair, and that he condition could suddenly get worse, perhaps? 

"Do you need anything? A glass of water? Something to eat?" Primrose asked softly. Cyrus was about to reply that he would absolutely like a glass of water but the words died in his throat when he realised that... something was amiss.

His teeth felt wrong. Everything and everyone smelt  _different_. His senses felt stronger than before somehow. His body felt wrong.  _Everything_ _was wrong._ But...why? What had... What had Gideon  _done_ to him? He remembered confronting Gideon and... Becoming a victim to Gideon's twisted experiments. Had the experiments...  _changed_ him somehow? 

He quickly sat up in bed, wrapping his arms around his knees as he tried to work out  _what was wrong with him_.

Oh, Sacred Flames,  _no._

Cyrus felt the pieces of the puzzle slowly fall into place as he recalled a... Cautionary tale he had read as a student. The tale was about a Scholar, who tried to conduct a Blood Ritual on himself, only to stop the ritual half way through due to sheer cowardice. The Scholar then became... Something else as the Blood Ritual changed him into something that desired Blood.

There were two lessons that tale had. The first was obviously not to engage in blood magic, you foolish cretin. The second was that, if you were to carry out an experiment, you should always know the risks before you carried out the experiment.

But the fact was that the changes the man experienced in that cautionary tale were  _identical_ to the ones Cyrus had now. He had fangs. His senses were stronger. His physical abilities were probably a lot stronger now.

_He could smell his friends' blood._

"May I... May I have a mirror?" Cyrus asked, not even hiding his fear, hoping that he was wrong, hoping that there was another answer. Someone quickly shoved a mirror into Cyrus' hands, and the minute he looked at his reflection, or lack of one, his worst fears were confirmed.

"...Are you ok, Prof?" Tressa asked quietly.

"Odette, can you tell me what colour my eyes are currently?" Cyrus asked nervously.

"Why do you ask?" Odette asked cautiously.

"...I... I fear that I am no longer human."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is how the six disaster kids, and the long suffering dad Olberic, ended up having to drag a newly turned Vampire Cyrus across the land of Osterra.
> 
> This Tumblr post below was the main inspiration for this fic, though the couple of sketches of Vampire!Cyrus really helped. What can I say? I'm weak to Vampires. As for if I will continue this dumb AU... *Shrug* 
> 
> http://vampirozi.tumblr.com/post/179388595375/so-yeah-vampire-cyrus
> 
> Anyways, thank you for enjoying this! :D


End file.
